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Love between Verstappen and Red Bull has cooled: Is it better to break up?
- Ludo van Denderen
Thinking about Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing over the past few days in Budapest and a song by Dutch music duo Acda & De Munnik springs to mind. "I actually never really know where I stand. She lifts me up and slams me down rock hard," are the opening lines in the song about a lingering love, but the painful conclusion is still to part ways. The song could easily have been about the successful driver and his team.
Immediately after winning his first world title in 2021, Max Verstappen demonstrated his delight over the team radio and proclaimed his desire to stay with Red Bull throughout his F1 career. Despite a quick contract extension, several years on, it seems increasingly unlikely that the Dutchman will race for the Austrian racing team until the end of his career. Even serving out his contract that runs until the end of 2028 is becoming increasingly uncertain.
In what seemed like the perfect marriage for years, cracks have been appearing more and more in recent months - with Verstappen's emotional outbursts at the Hungaroring being the strongest evidence of this. Verstappen is annoyed at his team's sporting developments (or lack thereof), what he sees as the lax way his advice is handled and how the team management (Christian Horner) downplays the problems in the media.
Is the marriage between Verstappen and Red Bull still salvageable?
In every marriage, there are tensions, and there are sometimes arguments. That's what keeps a relationship healthy. But the way Verstappen and Red Bull Racing have been opposing each other for months - this is already a long-term issue - begs the question: is this marriage still salvageable? To ask the question is actually to answer it. In the paddock - where everyone talks to everyone - the general consensus is that Verstappen and Red Bull Racing will break up at some point. If not after the current season already, then certainly after 2025.
Is that crazy? Of course not. When you have worked together over a long period of time with each other as intensely as Verstappen and Red Bull have done, it is perfectly normal to see it blow up. Even the seemingly happiest couples can decide to file for divorce. Everyone knows from everyday life. With Red Bull and Verstappen, it seems to be heading in that direction. The spark has slowly diminished.
New sweetheart at Mercedes yearns for Verstappen
In that case, Verstappen need not be without a sweetheart for long. In the paddock sits a very much-in-love new partner yearning for his declaration of love barely a door away. A team boss running a Mercedes team that has started an upward trajectory, with a team that has almost approached Red Bull Racing in terms of performance. And a team that, in terms of organisation and atmosphere, is nothing like Red Bull Racing at the moment.
Anyone who walks into Mercedes' hospitality and is used to Red Bull immediately notices the calmness within the German manufacturer's organisation. No visible and audible bickering among themselves. Everyone who steps through this door feels welcome. Moreover - and this is the most important thing for an ambitious F1 driver - Mercedes is a team that has proven to be the absolute best and now also knows how to return to success from a visibly hopeless situation. In short, it is an environment where Max Verstappen will undoubtedly feel at home.